It's Okay

How long have people fought to find a foothold in this world, desperately trying to belong somewhere? All right, let me rephrase this rhetoric question with something more realistic. How often does it happen that when you move from someplace to somewhere else, you try to become a part of your now new home, and fail miserably realizing that you never actually belonged to either?
Of all these long words strung into long questions, we are all used to a very small cruel answer :'Just let it be'.
You keep crying, keep shouting for people to listen and recognize you but truthfully, who cares? After all you're just some socially awkward weirdo right?

 O inequitable populace where have you brought us?


Now, not quite out -of-context, but let me share my story with you:
I have always been a lover of literature and music and biology and a fan following of the previous two categories has directed me towards creative writing ever since I was 5. I wrote poems, short paragraphs, mainly poems, school magazine stuff and class trinkets(you know, teacher's day, children's day quotes, the usual ..). And like any other amateur writer, I improved too,for the better.
Now with that came the interest in foreign languages. So much so that during the class 10 board exams when children were nose deep in CBSE recommended NCERT books, I was involved in learning French and Urdu from online classes. Doesn't mean that I failed in my boards, (got into science) but still accomplished two languages- a feat I thought was really 'cool'.It was not until I set foot in sophomore life did I realize that times were only just beginning to be brutal..
The immediate effect of my so-called 'awkwardness' was downright isolation, mentality of the students being, 'I don't quite get you, you're not like us, stay away'.
 Well you can guess how that went. But stupid me still wanted to fit in and tried hard and failed every single time.
There were writers in our class you know, but everytime I tried to say, 'Hey, I write too', it was either my accent or my 'french-appeal' (as most call it) that threw me away.My parents and teachers advised a 'let go' when I was trying to 'hold on'. It was all in the best interests but profoundly frustrating.
Also if I said that I had no one to back me up I would be untruthful. I had quite a few people say to me that everything would be fine, and for that instant it was way more than enough.


So everything now comes back to square one, that it is indeed an issue: People being prejudiced against someone because they won't give a different person a chance.
You go to people for help and they say that you are the reason bad things happen to you and that in normal circumstances it is 80% of the victim's fault that they get bullied. But this is neither a normal circumstance, nor a case of bullying. This is isolation as an outcast.

It sounds mean doesn't it, talking about oneself all the time? Well in that case you might as well call me selfish for jabbering about myself in the previous long para, or you may be 'super' kind and show pity, or, which is most likely, you will stay away because according to you, it does not really concern you. Hence this is the basic idea of what was earlier being said.


BUT,
As there is a lie to every truth and a smile to every tear, our coin of belonging has two faces too, the second of which is mainly in the shadows and is seldom flipped over to be seen.

Einstein was not Newton, Tagore was not Ray, Gates is not Buffet.

Then who are they? They are their own people, their own beautiful , talented , brilliant people who are famous because they are not like anybody else, nor will they ever be.
As we look around us we see day-to-day struggles of most people: emotional, physical, economical. Each person has a different type of problem. Every person or another tries to cope with their current situation in different ways, so in such a scenario judging someone on the basis of how different he/she is , is baseless and in a way irrational ; because in the end, no one is like someone else.
We may imitate a person we like or admire but owning upto one's uniqueness is the most important thing. Be proud of what you are because there is no one like you.
The only person who can be the best at being you is you yourself..

So the next time someone shuns you as different, don't be sad, be proud of it and stand tall on your own two feet.
You're not an outcast, You're just different than most, and believe me, it's okay <3


Cheers,
Ana.

Small Talk

Dear All,

The work of  a critic is in several ways , very easy. He thinks , and says, and opines, and  thinks again.

Now you may be wondering about how exactly being thoughtful and providing insights can be as simple as I say it is. Well you’re right, it is not; But being in a perpetual state of negative surely is. Have we ever wondered , how difficult it is to actually appreciate someone’s creation without pointing out the flaws in it? Or, how when we read a classmate’s self written poem, instantly point out words that seem unnecessary, just to escape the fact of actually having to mark it as excellent?

A person may write well above average, a person may qualify in performing arts with more merit that his/her peers, but we choose to ignore. We choose , or rather we train ourselves to see and to appreciate things we think is worth having a positive opinion about. Take social media for example; you find thousands of people with more followers/friends/likes who will get a thousand more of the same with meaningless entries. And then you look at those who despite having the talent for expressing and inspiring exceptionally well are reduced to swatting flies with the meagre optimism they are offered. Why? Because people think them to be unworthy of their precious encouragement or in more popular terms, ‘methodically boring’. Who would risk being friends with the nerd when they could worship the popstar?

We are always told that one learns to survive as they hang  onto a cliff for dear life , trying not to fall. Fact is, a survival such as this, often brings a shell of disdain and impassiveness. No one was paid to have their emotions burnt at stake, hence it is best to shut out completely and deny the deserving of all that was denied to you.  Such is the story to a stone hearted beginning, the way a critic is born.

Although we would like to revel in a halo of self righteousness, like it or not we all are the same in the end.  All self centered, insecure  critics who balm our burning ire by saying a miserable word about someone else , although it is very seldom that we truly mean what we say.

Being a critic is a way of life, a never ending circle whose tangent can lead to heartbreak and ‘weakness’. The exact reason why when we see a person being kind to another, we immediately  try to derive the motive behind the act, completely forgetting that it is quite natural to have kindness as a character trait. We would rather side with the popular insight than understand the absolute truth, simply because we find it intimidating. 

And so the eternal saga of fighting to get a foothold continues in full vigour. People will still stitch tapestries of love in their dreams and the ‘critics’ will keep up (the good work) with their overrated , yet over-respected activity of swimming in the negative , and we the mute spectators will remain silent because , how do I put it, je ne sais quoi  maybe?

We see , we feel, we know, we observe. We are the ones who stand strong and simultaneously love with all our hearts. Being a cynic is expensive, being sarcastic is entertaining, but being human goes a long way. As we wait for the world to change overnight, let us just for once love and live the way we are supposed to. Things are beautiful the way they are. Let the critic inside you sleep a moment and allow the happiness in you thrive. Who knows? You might not need the negative again. It does not cost to be happy more than it does to be miserable.

A little goes a long way....

Sincerely,

Someone just like you.